LONG, SAD CHARGERS DRAFT HISTORY IS GM TELESCO’S TO CHANGE

The NFL Draft is almost upon us, the annual provision of renewed hope for teams and their fans. One good draft class — heck, even just one special draft pick — can alter the course of a franchise.

But that has been largely an illusory promise for those of us in Chargerland.

Forgive us, Tom Telesco. You may be, at 40 years old and with the earnest countenance of a kid peddling vacuum cleaners door to door, every bit as cunning on the last weekend of April as your Yoda, Bill Polian.

We’ll see. A ravenous group of fans sick of middling results in April dooming September through December awaits your first move.

For now, this serves as a reality check for everyone awaiting that next great Charger to bro hug NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday night.

We’ve experienced mostly the draft’s downside in these parts.

Need this column go any further than a recounting of the Chargers’ trading up to select Ryan Leaf second overall in 1998? The Chargers languished with the second-worst record in the NFL over the next six seasons.

Now, there was LaDainian Tomlinson, drafted in 2001 and as responsible as anyone for the Chargers being a legitimate contender for the better part of a decade.

Junior Seau, for sure. Leslie O’Neal, excellent. Rodney Harrison, a fifth-round gem. And there have been others, obviously, on which the Chargers hit.

The 2004 class joined with Tomlinson to form much of the nucleus of a team that was highly successful over the next half-dozen seasons. The 1975 class would provide much of the core of the Air Coryell years, the earlier era of Chargers almost-champions tease teams.

And, assessing some recent picks such as Corey Liuget, Kendall Reyes and Donald Butler, among others, it appears the Chargers haven’t done this entirely blind.

But taking the entirety of their history into account, there is so much more to lament than laud.

Sammy Davis, flat-out bust. Mossy Cade, traded and then busted. The aptly named Buster Davis, who was perhaps born injured.

Presently, the Chargers are operating with just one remaining first-round pick from the six they made from 2005 to ’09. And that one pick is Larry English.

Be it due to injury or miscalculated talent, through multiple general managers, the Chargers have been relatively unfruitful when picking from the college tree.

The draft does go more than one round, and we must highlight some good Chargers picks after the first.

But remember, too, the Chargers tried to live without first-round picks for a period in the 1990s. From ’94 to ’97, the Chargers did not have a first-round pick. General Manager Bobby Beathard traded them, leveraging the future by believing again and again he could find players in dark small-school crevices again.

After going to the Super Bowl following the 1994 season and the playoffs again the next year, Beathard’s rosters managed a 25-39 record the next four seasons.

In a few high-profile cases recently, even when a pick seems to work out, it hasn’t.

Shawne Merriman’s 39½ sacks from ’05-07 were second-most in NFL history by a player in his first three seasons. He had knee surgery in 2008 and played just 16 more games and had just four more sacks as a Charger. Left tackle Marcus McNeill, started immediately after being a second-round pick in 2006 and went to two Pro Bowls before a neck injury forced him to retire just one year into a rich contract extension and after less than six full seasons in the league.